Still Frozen



An even lazier day--if possible--than yesterday. I slept in until ten this morning. It felt good. I only got up because I had to add water to the vaporizer and care for the cats--feed and medicate them. Cats are creatures of routine and any divergence from their expectations upsets them.

To varying degrees, of course. To some of our clowder, the prospect of someone staying in bed all day is sheer bliss. I don't think Frannie gets off the bed more than three times during the day and one of the comforting memories I have from my last nasty bout with the flu is cuddling under the covers with Dinky.

But once I got up and properly caffeinated, I got a few things done.

There aren't a lot of cats to medicate, now that Mr. Twitch is feeling good again. Just Toby John's twice-daily insulin, sub-cutaneous fluids for Punkin and Charcoal's thyroid meds, if I can catch her. So today, it was mostly topping off the food bowls and water dishes and making sure everyone is doing okay.

We got a trace of snow last night--fine crystals that glitter in the low-angled sun but don't add much to our snow pack. It had warmed up to near-zero this morning and probably got on the good side of zero in the heat of the brief afternoon but it isn't the break in the weather we are waiting for. That looks to be a couple days out yet.

I am starting to put the Christmas things away. Normally I want to hang on to the holiday season forever but for some reason this year I am ready to clean things up and get on with it. The house moves through the palette of seasonal moods--the festive red-and-green of mid-winter giving way to gold, silver and white for the New Year. Now I pack away the glitter and leave the house pale and open.

To me, the season after Christmas, those several months sloping up to the Spring Equinox, is the sparse time of the year, a season of moderation, meditation, a clearing of cluttered spaces. I like this season and look forward to it. I have been decompressing since June but I am still learning how to be retired.


Comments

MmeBenaut said…
I love the photo Laura and I so admire how you medicate your cats. I had to take Sascha to the vet because of another eye problem. I think that Kittypuss stalked and scratched her. She has a small ulcer on her cornea so I have to put in cream twice a day. I am a real wuss at doing this but my husband is even worse. Fortunately, the vet gave Sascha some pain relief and today the eye is open and much less swollen.
Being early summer for us, we're having low humidity too. It hadn't occurred to me to buy a vaporiser!
Being retired is great. Eventually you become so busy that you wonder how on earth you ever had time to work! For me, I guess it's because I'm slower and hampered by my back. If I overdo it, I pay in pain so some things take a really long time to do.
Anyway, you'll get the hang of things, soon enough.
Laura said…
Thank you.

I'll post this on your blog so you'll be sure to see it, but the way I found useful in applying eye medications, especially salves and creams is to use a cotton swab. I squeeze out the dose on the swab then "roll" it onto the eye near the lower lid. That way the medication stays sterile, your hands stay clean and you aren't coming at the cat with a finger or a tube of cream. You can sort of sneak the swab up while you hold the eye open. It's quick and light. Hope she's healing up.

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